The Blackmagic Ursa camera now allows recording at 80 fps.

The new update offers recording in 4K format at 80 fps, RAW file compression (3:1), framing guides, slow motion playback, CFast card formatting and drop-down menus, among other features.

Blackmagic Design today released Camera 1.9.9, a major update that includes several innovative features for the company's Ursa digital cinema camera. This new version was developed with the collaboration of world-class filmmakers who use this model to make high-end productions.

Among the most advanced functionalities, the new menu stands out, allowing you to select different image frequencies with a higher speed option for the Ursa models. That is, the filming rate is increased to 80 frames per second, which in turn improves the capture of slow motion images and the fluidity of the shots.

The frame rate settings on the Ursa camera have been changed so that the setting selected for recording is not limited by the playback speed. As a result, users can choose the frame rate at which a project will be shot, for example 24 fps for filming a feature film, and then independently set the frame rate for recording with options from 5 to 80 fps.

The advantage of this function is that you can capture shots in slow or fast motion, although all recorded files are adjusted to the frame rate for video, and you can appreciate the speed of movement when viewing the content. In this way, it is possible to play clips from the camera projecting the same appearance that would be obtained on the timeline of a professional editing program.

When shooting at high frequencies for feature films or television commercials, where image quality is crucial, this update offers a new 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW format compressed to a 3:1 ratio. This new feature allows you to record RAW files that take up one-third the space required by uncompressed files of the same type, thus providing double the storage capacity on an equally sized CFast card.

The RAW format with 3:1 compression supports the capture of a greater number of frames per second on CFast cards, taking advantage of all the advantages of this type of files that allow access to the maximum quality of the images captured by the camera sensor when processing them in editing programs such as DaVinci Resolve.

New features

Additionally, this update provides the ability to format CFast cards directly from the camera during recording, so there is no need to rely on a computer for this purpose. Unlike preparing cards from a computer, the URSA model technically analyzes the memory storage structure of these recording media and optimizes formatting for greater performance when recording digital film material in real time. This means that cards formatted from the camera offer better performance.

On the other hand, this new update also incorporates multiple changes to the user interface, including a new options panel that allows you to select the function to format drives and modify other settings. The interface also has drop-down menus that offer the user the possibility of accessing a longer list of settings by simply sliding the finger vertically on the touch screen, an extremely important feature for a camera with so many functions that the filmmaker can customize.

Among the innovative features of this version are included on-screen framing guides that allow a variety of aspect ratios common for feature films such as 2.35:1, 1.85:1, among others, to be displayed on the folding monitor. These guides appear as translucent overlays and the opacity can be adjusted by the user. Additional guides can also be activated to facilitate framing.

Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design, acknowledges that this update "is very significant for all Ursa camera users. This version has so many innovative features that it is like purchasing a completely new camera just by updating the software. We worked hard to release this update and believe that it truly reflects all the advantages of the Ursa's internal design and its full potential. And there is still much more to show!"